Bon appetit, Memphis! It’s Monday, Nov. 4, and Downtown Dining Week starts today and runs through Sunday. Don’t expect every offering to cost $20.24 though. The program is switching gears from the price-matching-the-year model so more restaurants can participate, and now some meals may cost even less. In this day and age, a meal for less than $20 is a real bargain, right?

We’ve been talking about Memphis Tigers basketball for months, but the season finally tips off today for the men’s and women’s teams. Coach Alex Simmons’ women will play Mississippi Valley State at 11 a.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, and Coach Penny Hardaway’s men play Missouri at 7 p.m. at FedExForum.

If you’re watching from home, you can flip the channel back and forth and also catch the Memphis Grizzlies’ away game against the Brooklyn Nets. Here’s hoping Ja Morant and Co. get revenge after our last terrible match-up with Brooklyn. For more on what’s coming up, check out This Week in Memphis.

THE NEED TO KNOW

The Memphis Police Department has used Flock cameras since at least 2021 to detect vehicles connected to a missing person, wanted person, theft or other crime. Now, they’ll also use them to crack down on illegal street takeovers. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Taking it off the streets: The Memphis Police Department is using new AI technology to stop illegal street takeovers, or “sideshows.” The sideshows often involve drag racing and other car stunts, like people hanging out of windows. But the new tech can pick up sounds from tire screeches and alert police with the location. It’s not clear how big of a problem sideshows really are in Memphis, but drag-racing arrests and citations are up pretty significantly over the past several years.

Signs for both Republican and Democratic presidential tickets have popped up around Memphis in the run-up to Election Day. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Out on front street (or yard, rather): One thing about presidential election season: You might learn more about your neighbors than you wanted to know. When a neighbor erects a yard sign that doesn’t align with your political party, especially if you live in a neighborhood that tends to swing one way or the other, it can be a shock. But the folks who run the local Harris-Walz and Trump-Vance headquarters, in Midtown and Cordova respectively, say residents are getting braver about expressing their political views this election year. And both Alex Hensley with the Harris-Walz office and Patti Possel with the Trump-Vance HQ say they’re getting requests for yard signs from people who are switching sides. 

Justin Johnson (in a Sept. 26 photo), who was convicted for the 2021 slaying of Young Dolph, has been sentenced for two additional charges related to the killing. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Justin Johnson sentenced again: Justin Johnson, who was convicted last month for the 2021 murder of Memphis rapper Young Dolph, has been sentenced to an additional 50 years on top of his life prison sentence. Johnson’s initial life sentence was handed down in September for his first-degree murder charge. On Friday, he was sentenced for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and for being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.

QUOTED

“Shame on everybody in the locker room. Shame on everybody in our organization. It starts with me.”

— Memphis Tigers football Coach Ryan Silverfield
The Memphis Tigers football team suffered its second loss of the season, 44-36, to UTSA on Saturday, possibly blowing their chance for a American Athletic Conference championship. That means the most anticipated football season in program history is likely to end with an appearance in a mediocre bowl game, according to columnist John Martin.

THE NICE TO KNOW

“Going into my seventh year, I know way more than even what I knew last year,” said Memphis Tigers Coach Penny Hardaway. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Will this be Penny’s year? The Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team will open its season tonight with a match-up against Missouri at FedExForum. And with a new year comes new hope that maybe this will finally be the season that Coach Penny Hardaway’s team makes it to the Sweet 16. The Tigers haven’t made it that far in 14 seasons and never once under Hardaway. As our own Geoff Calkins says, any other coach would likely be facing a “win-or-else” season, but Hardaway is a Memphis icon and gets cut a little slack. One other thing about Hardaway though, he’s put up with a lot of changes in college basketball — from the NCAA transfer portal to name, image and likeness deals — since he’s started coaching the Tigers in 2018. And he doesn’t seem to be giving up, unlike some other college coaches.

Memphis Grizzlies' Jay Huff reacted after a dunk during a game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, Nov. 2, in Philadelphia. (Matt Slocum/AP)

Huff Stuff: New Memphis Grizzly Jay Huff proved his worth to the team on Saturday night with a powerful two-handed dunk over Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey. That showy basket — which announcer Pete Pranica dubbed “a Huff Stuff” — came in a game that ended with a 124-107 win for the Grizz. But it wasn’t only the Huff show. There were 35 assists, most of them from Scotty Pippen Jr. and Ja Morant, and for only the third time in franchise history, four different Memphis players recorded a double-double. (The last time that happened was way back in 2008.) At the game, Jaren Jackson Jr. fan Casi Spear got a chance to show off the JJJ jersey that she spent 40-plus hours knitting by hand. After fashion maven Jackson saw it, Spear may need to make another one.

Memphis 901 FC forward Marlon Santos comforted teammate Samuel Careaga after a season-ending loss to Orange County FC on Nov. 2. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Soccer is over: Saturday was a sad day for Memphis football — both kinds. Around the same time the Memphis Tigers were losing their American football game, 901 FC’s playoff run was coming to an end at AutoZone Park. The 1-0 game finished with Orange County winning the USL Championship Western Conference quarterfinal, thanks to a late goal by the team’s Dillon Powers. 

Walker the Magician

LeMoyne-Owen’s magic moment: LeMoyne-Owen College finally has a mascot. The college’s sports teams have long played under the name, Magicians, but until late October, they didn’t have anyone dressed up in a mascot suit at games. Walker the Magician — a larger-than-life-sized man in a magician cape and hat — made his first appearance at the HBCU’s homecoming basketball game. The idea came from LeMoyne-Owen’s new-ish president Christopher Davis, but the name Walker was a group decision.

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

If you haven’t voted yet, you might get wet when you go to the polls tomorrow. Don’t let that stop you.

Before you go: If you value The Daily Memphian’s free local election coverage, please make a charitable donation to support The Daily Memphian’s reporting. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit newsroom, we need your help to make our local election information accessible to those who can afford a subscription — and to those who can’t.

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